On Mon, 12 Apr 2004, Jon Johanning wrote:
> The whole battle to keep classical music from being "degraded" by
> commercials has been lost for some time, if you consider it degrading.
> My attitude is that the more exposure the public gets, the better -- at
> least it reminds Americans that there is such a thing. But I also
> respect those who feel that it should be treated with reverence, as you
> do; I'm just more relaxed about it.
Given the plummeting sales of classical music over the past few decades, I'd go with Joan Robinson's sentiment on this: the only thing worse than Mozart being exploited in a capitalist society is Mozart not being exploited. --A brutal reality of our society: the persistence of culture over time is more or less contingent upon commodification. To put it bluntly, no profits, no Mozart.
Miles